Curing the Crabby Traveler– Get a Better Night’s Sleep Anywhere
You’re only on the third day of your 8day/7night all-inclusive and you’re already feeling annoyed. The ecology lecture you wanted to catch started 10 minutes ago, and you finally pull your travel partner from her hundredth souvenir shop. After the lecture, she complains she’s got a backache from those hard chairs you made her sit on and insists on a massage from a spa that’s recommended by the guidebook, but far from your current location. After searching for, then finally finding the spa, you both decide to get massages. But when she’s slow to get dressed, and as you run to meet your bus, the tension is already back in your back and shoulders, the effects of your massage undone. To make matters worse, the cute-as-a-button tour guide tisks at you for being late. That’s it. Your last straw. Your patience is evaporating at the same rate as your spending money.
OK, that’s a worst-case scenario, but even the most laid-back girlfriend getaway has the potential to elicit friction between two people who are otherwise close. Perhaps you’re not used to compromising with her for 24hrs/day. Maybe you’ve got different ways of making decisions, or due to a generation gap have different interests.
Or, it could be that you’re not sleeping well. Despite the charge you’ve gotten from being in a new place, your stores of energy (and patience) have been depleted by less-than-perfect sleep. According to a new study published in Psychosomatic Medicine wherein couples rated the quality of their previous night’s sleep and their satisfaction with the day’s interactions, how well you get along with your romantic partner is linked to the sleep quality of one or both members of a couple. It stands to reason that this health fact can be extrapolated to your relationship with your travel partner (colleague, friend, parent, sibling, child, or of course your romantic partner).
Think you need less sleep because you’re getting older? Not so! It’s a common myth that older women need less sleep. But according to Dr. Lisa Shrives of Northshore Sleep Medicine in Evanston, IL, they simply tend to sleep different hours. Don’t use age as an excuse not to get all the sleep you need.
So, we’ve got to get to bed early… or at least improve the quality of the sleep we get, lest we become crabby travelers. Here are a handful of suggestions, for hitting the sack, rather than our travel partners:
1.) Think you’ll read some of the pages of your travel guidebook before bed? Itinerary planning late at night may build excitement and/or stress in relation to the next day’s activities. Instead, plan earlier in the day, then stop your itinerary-making well before bedtime and wind down with something unrelated like a novel.
2.) Pack the essentials: eye mask, earplugs, and if unavoidable, your own pillow. There are a number of inflatable pillows on the market, which can give you added comfort without hogging all the space in your suitcase. Why not try the Body Shop’s inflatable bath pillow– use it for extra relaxation during baths on your trip, then slip it into a different pillow case when you go to bed.
3.) Figure out a sleep-trigger. Add a scent like lavender to your pillow case or eye mask, starting in the week before your departure. You’ll be training yourself to have a physical response to the stimulus. Likewise you can use a certain song, such as a soothing instrumental, or a track of nature sounds. Play the same track on a portable music player as you fall asleep each night to bring on drowsiness in new environs.
4.) Watch your caffeine and alcohol intake. Searching for La Dolce Vita you may find tiramisu, espressos, cappuccinos, and coffee gelato. Now you’re loaded up on caffeine and sugar your body can’t handle. You should be equally as cautious with wine, which may send you to sleep, but overall undermine your restfulness during the night.
5.) Stick to your budget. Fear your credit card is being maxed out or what your partner back home will think of the money you’ve spent on impulse buys will, for some, cause tossing and turning. Set a daily as well as an overall budget. Set aside your daily allotment of cash in a compartment of your wallet. If that compartment is cleared out, it’ll cause you to think twice in the face of further purchases. If there’s money left over at the end of the day, keep it in there and add more to it the next day to save for something you’re really going to love.
6.) Ensure your wake-up call does just that. Are you afraid you won’t wake up in time for your flight or your next scheduled outing? Fear of oversleeping can undermine the sleep you do get, so investing in a reliable travel clock is really worth the dough. Wake-up calls help, but arrange your own back-up (or two) if you’re still feeling unsure.
Good luck, and happy travels 
(Sourced quotes and second image of sleeping couple used with gracious permission from VIV Magazine)
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